take my hand, take my whole life too
by tsharknami
Summary: Maki has been acting differently ever since Nozomi and Eli got together, and no one knows why - least of all Maki herself.


They're basically already married. In fact, Maki thinks, if she hadn't watched Eli and Nozomi get together only a month ago, she might think they were. They always gravitate to one another, like they're tied together by an invisible cord always pulling toward the center. Even now, it's only a five minute break during practice, not even that if Umi gets her way, but still they spend it together.

Maki watches as Eli grabs two bottles of water, quickly making her way over to where Nozomi stands leaning against the wall and handing her one of them. Her now empty hand opens her own bottle before moving behind Nozomi's back, touching her lightly - or so Maki imagines, anyway. The thought of it makes something undesirable settle in Maki's stomach, although she cannot name it.

Their heads are bent close together as they talk quietly and Maki can only stare. Her eyes squint in the sun, and she knows she should look away. Rin is talking to both her and Hanayo, and she should pay more attention. She knows this. And yet…

Eli's arm is moving slowly on Nozomi's back, and her head tilts as she waits for Nozomi's answer to whatever she had just said, and now Maki is sure she needs to look away, that she's probably intruding on a private moment.

And then Nozomi looks up.

* * *

Eli's hand is warm on her lower back, and it grounds her. The bottle of water is cold in her hands, and that, too, grounds her.

It's easy for her to get lost sometimes. She's happier now than she's ever been, and she's floating on air just thinking about. Even knowing that later she'll be going home alone isn't enough to dampen the mood brought on by the thought of all her friends, of her _girlfriend_.

"Hey," Eli says softly, leaning her head in towards Nozomi. "Are you okay?"

"Of course," Nozomi replies as she lowers her head as well. She can't help but smile as Eli's eyes dart quickly to her lips and then back up.

Eli raises her eyebrow. "Are you sure? It seemed like you were somewhere else just now."

Nozomi just smiles. "Don't worry about me, Elichi. I'm right here with you, I promise."

Eli still doesn't look convinced, but she lets it go. "Alright. Would you like to have dinner with Alisa and I tonight?" Eli asks with a tilt of her head. For a moment, Nozomi is distracted by Eli lightly rubbing her back.

As Nozomi begins to answer, she's struck by the sense that they're being watched. Quickly, her eyes snap up and she's prepared to scan the rooftop. However, she immediately meets Maki's eyes. The other girl looks away just as quickly, returning to the conversation she was clearly (not) having with the other first years.

"Hm," Nozomi mumbles.

* * *

Nozomi's her _girlfriend_.

Eli still can't believe it sometimes. They've been dating for a full month now, and still Eli expects to wake up and discover that it was only a dream, that she and Nozomi are still just friends. But it's not. It's real, and as Nozomi leans her head down to match Eli she can't help the instinct to kiss her, just to prove it. She knows that Nozomi saw her eyes move to glance down at her lips, and Eli can't stop the blush from rising on her face, but she can ignore it.

She knows Nozomi isn't being entirely truthful, but whatever place her mind had taken her didn't seem to be a bad one, so Eli decides to let it go. Instead, she asks Nozomi over for dinner, moving her hand lightly over Nozomi's back. Nozomi doesn't answer at first, rather her eyes snap up to look at something across the roof. Eli looks up too, trying to follow her girlfriend's line of sight, but all she can see is Maki, twirling her hair around her finger, talking to Rin and Hanayo.

Nozomi makes a quiet noise beside her, so Eli's attention turns back to her. She asks, "What's wrong, Nozomi?"

Nozomi quickly turns her attention back to Eli, a soft smile forming on her face. "I'm not sure. Do you think Maki has been acting different lately?"

Eli's first instinct is to say no, but she realizes that if Nozomi is asking, she must think it's true, so she gives the question more thought. Maki had never been the most outgoing of their group, but Eli had had the pleasure of seeing her truly blossom in their time as school idols. She knows Rin and Hanayo play a big part in that, and so does Nico, though neither of them would ever admit it. Nozomi, too, has something special with Maki. Then again, Nozomi has something special with everyone. She's a special person.

Now that she truly considers it, Eli thinks that perhaps Maki has seemed particularly attached to her fellow first years recently, especially when talking to Nozomi or herself. In fact, Maki has been the one to end almost every conversation they've had in the last month.

Everyone had been so excited when they found out that Eli and Nozomi were together, Maki included. But maybe…

"You're thinking too much, Elichi," Nozomi giggles, breaking Eli from her thoughts. "You didn't need to take me so seriously, it's nothing. Besides, didn't you need to talk to Honoka about something?"

Eli wants to argue. Nozomi has a reason for everything, and she knows this. But she really does have to talk to Honoka, so she replies with a smile, "You're right, thank you for reminding me. I don't know what I would do without you."

Nozomi giggles again, and the way she grins as she says "Well, you'll never have to find out," gives Eli the confidence to lean in for a quick kiss before she turns to find Honoka.

Her face is burning, but she can't bear to turn back and find out if Nozomi is the same.

* * *

Nozomi knows her face is turning red, but knowing Eli is probably in much the same state makes her smile as she watches the other girl walk away. Quickly, she recovers from the distraction and remembers why she mentioned Honoka in the first place. Nozomi looks back up at Maki, hoping that she will reveal who it was she was watching before Nozomi scared her away.

As usual, her plan has worked, as Nozomi can see Maki's eyes trailing after Eli as she wanders off to find Honoka. She's willing to admit, if only to herself, that she feels a twinge of sadness at the revelation of where Maki's interests lie, though before she can think too much of it, Maki meets her eyes once again. They stay like that for a moment, with Nozomi surprised into stillness and Maki, well, there's no way to know what she's thinking.

Umi calls for practice to resume, and Nozomi can feel Maki's relief from across the rooftop, breaking their eye contact and moving back into position. Nozomi has no time to dissect what's just happened, as Eli is back by her side, smiling in the way that never fails to warm Nozomi's heart. She decides to stop thinking about it for now, and to just enjoy the rest of day with her girlfriend. But she will not forget about Maki's curious behavior.

No, she will not forget.

* * *

 _God_ , where has her self-control gone?

Even as she watches Rin talk, still Maki can't help but watch them from the corner of her eye. Somehow they've gotten even closer together. Honestly, how can they talk that close- oh, _oh._ Maki can feel her face burning as she realizes that no, they were not talking. Rather, she's just watched them kiss, because she's a creep, clearly.

Maki knows she's lucky that it's Rin talking, not Hanayo, because RIn gets far too caught up in the excitement of her own story - not that Maki has any idea what it's about - to notice the changing color in Maki's face. Maki decides that she needs to just buckle down and focus on Rin, but of course there's some higher power that really must have it out for her, because right then Eli walks away from Nozomi and right back into Maki's line of sight.

It's not her fault. Really, it's not. Maki refuses to believe that there's a single girl in their tight knit little group that wouldn't have watched Eli go. There's no excuse, however, for Maki looking back over at Nozomi. Maki assumed she would've also been watching her girlfriend walk away, but of course not, why would anything go the way Maki wants them too? Instead, their eyes meet once again, except this time Maki can't make herself look away. She's never seen Nozomi look this caught off guard. Maki doesn't know what she was expecting, but clearly it wasn't this.

There's no telling how long they were standing like that, but finally Umi breaks the trance by calling them back to practice, and Maki is sure she's never been happier for a break to be over. She welcomes the excuse to look away and resigns herself to another hour of trying to focus on her own dancing and not Nozomi or Eli's, praying all the while to that higher power, if it's up there, to please just cut her some slack.

She needs all the help she can get.


End file.
